Google has confirmed it is preparing to launch the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
You can read all the rumours for the Pixel 6 separately, but here we are focusing on the confirmed details and the speculation surrounding the larger device, the Pixel 6 Pro.
Release date and price
19 October 2021 launch eventLikely flagship price
Google will be holding an event on 19 October 2021 where it will be unveiling the new Pixel 6 models, with the regular and Pixel 6 Pro models on the roster.
#Pixel6, the new Google Phone.
Tune in October 19th at 10 am PT: https://t.co/zmp5byVq1y#Pixel6Launch pic.twitter.com/v3wwySE5gs
— Made By Google (@madebygoogle) October 5, 2021
In terms of price, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL and the Pixel 4 and 4 XL all sat in the same price bracket as flagship smartphones. The Pixel 5 meanwhile, was targeted at the mid-range in terms of price.
It’s not currently clear what Google will do in terms of price this year, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Pixel 6 Pro sitting at flagship prices.
Rumour suggests the Pixel 6 Pro is said to cost around €899, which is around £770 in the UK and around $1065 in the US.
Design
Prominent horizontal camera housingTriple cameraPunch hole front cameraBold colour options
Google released some official images of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro from the rear, with the design confirming several leaked renders and showing quite a big departure from previous Pixel devices. The 6 Pro will follow a similar design to the Pixel 6 but feature three lenses on the rear compared to two.
collection:Google official images
There is a large, narrow protruding camera housing that spans the width of the phone, separating two colours and Google has said the 6 Pro will have a “light polished aluminium finish”. It’s shown in the images in three colour options, comprising a yellow and light orange, white and grey and black and dark grey.
Official images also reveal the front of the device, with a punch hole front camera centralised at the top of the display. The screen appears to be slightly curved at the edges. It is also said to feature an under display fingerprint sensor, which makes sense given the physical sensor is no longer on the rear. It’s expected to offer an IP68 water and dust resistance rating.
collection:OnLeaks renders
Display
6.67-inch/6.71-inch displayCurved screenQuad HD+, 120Hz?Under-display fingerprint sensor
The Google Pixel 6 Pro is expected to have a 6.7-inch display – as listed by Carphone Warehouse before being removed – making it larger than the Pixel 5 and larger than the Pixel 4 XL, which had a 6.3-inch display.
We’d expect to see a Quad HD+ resolution on the Pixel 6 Pro, as well as a 120Hz refresh rate, enabling it to compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy 21 Ultra and the OnePlus 9 Pro. While nothing is officially confirmed as yet, the resolution and faster refresh rate have leaked in rumours, with the 120Hz display said to be called Smooth Display and the panel said to be 3120 x 1400 pixels.
The Smooth Display is expected to offer a variable refresh rate between 10Hz and 120Hz, though it’s not clear if the refresh rate will only drop to 10Hz when the Always On Display is active, rather than offer an adaptive refresh rate normally, like Samsung offers.
As mentioned above, an under-display fingerprint sensor is claimed for the Pixel 6 Pro and the display will be slightly curved at the edges.
Hardware and specs
Google Tensor chipUWB technology5G connectivity
The Google Pixel 6 Pro will have the company’s own system-on-chip, known as Tensor – read more about it here. The chip has a new Titan M2 security module, plus it’s been designed to ensure that all the artificial intelligence and machine learning applications could run on it – from computational photography to real time translation.
The Carphone Warehouse leak suggests the Google Tensor chip will offer 80 per cent faster performance compared to the Pixel 5 and its Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip, giving us an idea of where it sits in terms of power.
Other hardware rumours suggest the Pro will have 12GB of RAM, as well as storage options of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. It’s also said to have a 5000mAh battery. It’s also thought that the Pixel 6 Pro will support 23W wireless charging, thanks to the leak of a new higher-powered charging stand, and there’s talk of 30W wired charging support too. Rumours also claim the device will support reverse wireless charging which it will call Battery Share.
It’s expected that the Pixel 6 Pro will be a 5G device and feature ultra-wideband technology.
Cameras
Triple camera4K front camera?Night Sight
The Pixel 6 Pro will have a triple rear camera with a 4x optical telephoto lens. There have been no more official details revealed but there have been some substantial rumours on the camera front, giving us a good idea as to what to expect.
There’s expected to be a 50-megapixel main camera, coupled with a 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle camera and an 48-megapixel telephoto lens. It’s said the main sensor will capture 150 per cent more light, and offer 20x “Super Res Zoom” on top of the 4x optical zoom from the periscope lens.
The front camera is said to be 12-megapixels and it’s said it could be an ultra wide lens with a 94-degree field of view.
Other rumours have suggested the front camera could off 4K video recording and it’s likely we will continue to see features like Night Sight. It’s also been claimed there will be a gimbal-like steady camera mode and big improvements to video recording. Other features claimed to be coming include something called “magic eraser”, Face Deblur, “Motion Blur” and “Baby Mode”.
Google Pixel 6 Pro rumours: What’s happened so far?
Here’s everything we have heard about the Pixel 6 Pro so far.
11 October 2021: Retailer comprehensively spills the beans on Google Pixel 6 Pro with full promo pages
Carphone Warehouse accidentally revealed a number of the key specifications and features coming to the Pixel 6 Pro. The pages have since been removed, though we got screenshots before that happened.
collection:Pixel 6 Pro Carphone Warehouse leak
8 October 2021: Pixel 6 and 6 Pro fully revealed in mega photo dump ahead of their unveiling
Leaker Evan Blass tweeted a number of images revealing the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro in full, revealing some of the best images we have seen of the front and backs of the devices.
P6 pic.twitter.com/Cc3azLC87g
— E (@evleaks) October 7, 2021
5 October 2021: Google confirms Pixel 6 launch event on 19 October
Google has officially confirmed that the Pixel Fall Launch will tale place on 19 October #Pixel6Launch.
29 September 2021: Google Pixel 6 prices and release date leak
According to YouTuber Brandon Lee (@thisistechtoday), the Google Pixel 6 Pro is said to cost around €899, which is around £770 in the UK and around $1065 in the US.
24 September 2021: Google Pixel 6 camera features detailed in leak
A report on XDA Developers offers some information based on an internal, unreleased version of the Google Camera app, along with information and insights from an unnamed source, detailing some of the camera features expected for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.
22 September 2021: Pixel 6 Pro video shows off prototype hardware
A brief hands on video appeared on Twitter showing off what looks like an early prototype of the Pixel 6 Pro.
I think this may be the first hands on video leak of a Google Pixel 6 Pro.
FYI: The logo would indicate that this is likely an early production test unit, so that means there may be some differences between what you see here and the actual production device. #teampixel pic.twitter.com/4QSvdktqA7
— M. Brandon Lee | THIS IS TECH TODAY (@thisistechtoday) September 21, 2021
20 September 2021: Google Pixel 6 Pro could finally embrace faster charging speeds
A post on the Taiwanese version of the FCC, the National Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed the Pixel 6 Pro could offer 33W wired charging.
15 September 2021: Huge Google Pixel 6 Pro spec leak reveals practically everything
XDA Developers published a report revealing a number of specifications for the Pixel 6 Pro.
9 September 2021: Google drops Pixel 6 teaser to remind you that iPhone 13 isn’t your only choice
Google dropped a teaser for the Pixel 6 amd while it didn’t give much away, it carried the message that the device wouldn’t just be a phone, but a phone that adapted to you.
2 September 2021: Google Pixel Stand leak suggests that Pixel 6 will support 23W wireless charging
A leak from a US retailer seemingly confirmed the upcoming Google Pixel 6 will support 23W wireless charging after an inventory log made reference to “Google Pixel 23W WL Stand”.
31 August 2021: Made by Google event could happen on 19 October 2021
A reliable leaker has suggested that the Pixel 6 might be on sale by 28 October, with 19 October the potential date for unveiling.
31 August 2021: Pixel Stand supporting 23W wireless charging leaks
A retailer listing for a 23W Pixel Stand has leaked, suggesting that Google might support such charging speeds in the Pixel 6 Pro.
13 August 2021: Google Pixel 6 hint reveals that camera system could feature a 50MP sensor made by Samsung
A teardown of the Google Camera app has hinted that the Pixel 6 will feature a 50-megapixel sensor developed by Samsung.
2 August 2021: Google confirms Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, powered by Google Tensor
Google officially revealed the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro in a blog post, along with some images and details on the Tensor chip that will run the devices.
16 July 2021: Google Pixel 6 Pro could offer 5x zoom from “ultra tele” camera
XDA Developers reported finding evidence in the APK of the latest version of the Google Camera app from the third Android 12 beta that suggests the Pixel 6 Pro could have a 5x zoom from an “ultra tele” camera.
13 July 2021: Google Pixel 6 and 6 XL names appear in developer form
Following the start of this year’s Google for Games Developer Summit, where new tools for Android game developers were revealed, the Pixel 6 and, interestingly, the Pixel 6 XL both appeared on a form for a new game mode API, spotted by XDA Developers.
9 July 2021: Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro specs revealed in new leak
Jon Prosser from FrontPageTech shared some of the missing specifications for the Google Pixel 6 Pro, including RAM and camera details.
28 May 2021: More Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro camera details leak out
Leaker FrontTron claimed on Twitter that the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro would feature a larger Samsung camera sensor, a gimbal-like steady cam mode and big video recording improvements.
Pixel 6 stuff
Gimbal like steady cam mode
Bigger Samsung sensor, Google custom NPU and ISP -> better than pixel 5
Big improvements in video
— Tron (@FrontTron) May 26, 2021
25 May 2021: More Google Pixel 6, 6 Pro and 5a 5G details revealed in leak
Max Weinbach discussed the performance of Google’s Whitechapel chip on a podcast, along with revealing some other details.
21 May 2021: Google Pixel 6 Pro’s radical design rendered once again
Serial leaker OnLeaks shared some Pixel 6 Pro renders, following on the renders published by Jon Prosser. They show a similar design but offer some more details, including rhe 6 Pro’s screens size and a few more angles.
collection:OnLeaks Pixel 6 Pro render leak
19 May 2021: Pixel 6 model numbers discovered in Android 12 Beta
Details about unreleased devices have been uncovered in the Android 12 Beta.
18 May 2021: Google announced Android 12 at Google I/O
Google announced Android 12 during its I/O developer conference, revealing a huge redesign. The company also referenced “fall” for the Pixels launch, as well as hinting that we’d see UWB in a future Pixel handset.
14 May 2021: Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro renders show radical change in design
Jon Prosser published some renders of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, in collaboration with with @RendersbyIan. According to Prosser, the renders have been created based on actual photographs of the real product, not from schematics.
6 May 2021: Pixel 6 to feature custom ‘Whitechapel’ chip?
Further evidence suggests Google is working on custom Whitechapel chip that will go into the Pixel 6.
4 May 2021: Pixel 6 might rival iPhone 12 by offering UWB connectivity
XDA’s Mishaal Rahman shared on Twitter that Google is experimenting with UWB support on an upcoming device codenamed Raven, which could be the Pixel 6.
30 April 2021: Google is working on UWB connectivity, possibly for Pixel 6 family
9to5Google reported that Google was experimenting with putting UWB technology into its Android hardware, speculating this would be found in the Pixel 6 phones.
5 April 2021: Pixel 6 might be powered by a Google-designed ‘GS101’ processor
9to5Google claimed Google is developing two phones with an Arm-based “GS101” processor, codenamed “Whitechapel”.
2 April 2021: Pixel 6 may use Google-made chip instead of Qualcomm processor
XDA Developers reported Google is working on new GS101 silicon for its 2021 Pixel phones. It said: “The SoC will feature a 3 cluster setup with a TPU (Tensor Processing Unit). Google also refers to its next Pixel devices as “dauntless-equipped phones”, which we believe refers to them having an integrated Titan M security chip (code-named Citadel).”
17 March 2021: Android 12 DP2 hints at a future Pixel device with an under-display fingerprint scanner
XDA Developers reported spotting evidence in Android 12 code that suggests the Pixel 6 could come with an under-display fingerprint scanner.
9 March 2021: Google Pixel 6 likely to adopt centered hole punch camera, 4K selfie video
9to5Google dug into an update to the Google Pixel camera app that suggests the Pixel 6 could adopt centralised punch hole camera and support 4K video recording.
18 February 2021: Android 12 code might give away some Pixel 6 features
XDA Developer’s Mishaal Rahman tweeted some features he found in the Android 12 developer code suggesting UI changes make it more one-handed friendly and there was some talk of under-display fingerprint scanner support alongside facial recognition too.
Now that the embargo has lifted, here’s my running thread of changes I’ve found in Android 12 Developer Preview 1.
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) February 18, 2021
1 December 2020: Patent suggests under-display front camera on future Pixel phone
A patent for a future Pixel phone was spotted by Patently Apple showing no visible front camera.
